‘Walking Dead’ ratings drop due to SNL 40
Either fans were really bored with last week’s emotional episode or people were extremely interested in seeing something funny on a Sunday night.
According to Deadline, the most watched show on television lost millions of viewers on Sunday night.
While the top rated show on television this season, among the key demo the AMC series pulled in a 6.2 on February 15 in its 9 – 10 PM slot with 7.9 million watching in the 18-49s. Overall, The Walking Dead had 12.3 million viewers, another stumble of 22% from the 15.8 million who tuned in last week. During the same 9 – 10 PM slot, the SNL 40special had an 8.4 rating in the key demo with a peak of 10.68 million watching among adults 18-49. Head-to-head in overall viewers during the hour,SNL had 24.32 million watching according to final numbers from Nielsen. That’s down a bit from the most watched hour of the more than 3-hour SNL special. The opening 8 – 9 PM slot had 26.11 million viewers. Over its 8 – 11:12 PM run, the SNL 40 special had a 7.8 rating among adults 18-49 with 9.939 million in the demo and 23.1 million viewers in the 8 – 11:30 PM slot.
This is the second week in a row where the Walking Dead ratings have taken a hit. The Season 5 midseason return was negatively affected by the Grammys and this week Walking Dead ratings will most likely take a hit due to the Academy Awards.
This may be the start of the end of The Walking Dead. The zombie apocalypse thriller once had more viewers than the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games now, it is losing their ratings to one-night specials.
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